Being a new ATL resident and having made a few flights to/from ATL, I have become all too familiar with being delayed because of ground stops. The other day I was flying TPA-ATL on DL and we were delayed at first by a late arriving aircraft (from ATL) and then we had to wait to taxi because of a ground stop due to haze from the excessively hot weather in Atlanta. Here's the unusual part, as we taxied to end of the taxiway and prepared to turn to make our takeoff, we stopped. The pilot finally announced that we had to wait 5 more minutes, again for traffic control reasons at ATL before we could take off. I was curious if this has happened to anyone else. It's one thing to wait at the gate, but when you are in line for takeoff, that's another story. As we waited, we were passed by two other planes waiting behind us to take off.

I had a situation in CLE where DTW ground stopped us when we were #2 for departure so we pulled out of the line near the end of the runway. We were even told by the captain we could use cell phones at the time. Within eight minutes we were cleared for departure and actually had an early arrival. Another time at ATL we were actually #1 for departure and were denied clearance because the crew did not have an updated weight report. Despite a line of almost thirty waiting for departure, we sat on a taxiway waiting for the report and once received were allowed in the #4 slot despite the long line.

Yep, that's happened to me too. Sat at the end of the runway in RDU after successive ground stops to (where else?) ATL, but I didn't mind so much as I had a great spotter's view! However, the coach seat pitch became less than forgiving after a while.

Quoting TLHFLA (Thread starter):I was curious if this has happened to anyone else. It's one thing to wait at the gate, but when you are in line for takeoff, that's another story.

Back in 2001, my flight from TUS to PHX (you know, that it is a very short distance) left the gate almost on time. Then we were waiting at some holding point near the end of the rwy for 10 minutes, turned onto the taxiway again, went ot the opposite end of the runway, took off, had to make 3 donuts in the sky half-way down to PHX (i.e. in the area of Casa Grande, AZ) before we were allowed to continue into PHX (touching down about 40 minutes late, but I got my connection to ABQ). IIRC this happened before the third runway at PHX became operational ...
-HT

Carpe diem ! Life is too short to waste your time ! Keep in mind, that today is the first day of the rest of your life !

I have had worse happen. I was on a United Express CR7 in Detroit and headed for Chicago O'Hare. We had an ATC delay for 45 minutes for Chicago, and then Detroit went into a ground stop due to thunderstorms while sitting in a remote location on a cramped CR7. Finally over an hour after pushback we taxied out to the runway. We began our takeoff roll with the engines all spooled up, and then part way down the runway the brakes came on and we taxied off the runway to a holding position for another ATC delay of about 30 minutes. Finally while in flight, we almost had to divert to MKE for fuel because of more holding for ORD.

When an airport comes off a ground stop, it usually is followed by a flow control program which regulates the number of aircraft that will be allowed to land at the affected airport...the situation you describe seems to indicate that as the ground stop ended and all aircraft destined to ATL were being given new wheels up times, everybody left the gate and waited on the taxiway for thier name to be called....so to speak. You don't want to miss your wheels up, because then you go to the end of the line and are at the mercy of the FAA to get you airborne.....hope this helps a little.

I guess this is not as unusal as I thought. Fortunately at TPA, you do not have to worry too much about loosing your place in line for take off (not usually backed up like hub airports). I am hoping the new runway at ATL will help reduce these delays.

Quoting Ordpark (Reply 5):When an airport comes off a ground stop, it usually is followed by a flow control program

Usually only the bigger airports get this; ORD, DFW, SFO, JFK, etc. Other places can cope just fine without a GDP, like LAX or SLC. It all depends on the estimated traffic for those hours, or if they think they can get away with it by using miles in trail, or maybe just a hold or two. Also, the FAA is very generous with wheels-up times. Sometimes you may have to get another time, but most of the time, they will adjust it for you until you get airborn--including ORD.

Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.